Self inflating marine fender

ABSTRACT

A self inflating fender for marine use having a flexible, air tight cover that surrounds and closely conforms to the external shape of an uncompressed open cell foam core. An air valve allows the fender to retain either an uncompressed state to act as a fender or a compressed state for easy storage. The fender self inflates from the compressed state when the air valve is opened and the open cell foam core is allowed to expand back to its original shape. End flaps integral with the cover have grommetted holes for attaching the fender. An alternative is surrounding the open cell foam core with a bladder which contains an air valve. The bladder is then surrounded by a fending cover that closely conforms to the open cell foam core uncompressed shape. The fending cover has stitched ends incorporating loops for attachment and an access hole for the air valve.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates to a boat fender and more particularly, toa boat fender that is self inflating.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Since the advent of planked hulled boats, fenders of all typesand descriptions have been used to protect a boat's hull from damagewhile tied to shore or to another boat. In order for fenders to beeffective in protecting the boat, they have to be large and numerous.This, however, creates a problem if the fenders are to be stored in anunobtrusive location on the boat when underway because space is soprecious. An obvious solution is to have inflatable fenders which can becompressed for storage thereby requiring much less space. Porteousdescribes the basic inflatable fender in U.S. Pat. No. 1,361,902 whichis still in common use today. Differing configurations of an inflatablefender are described by Gilbert in U.S. Pat. No. 2,028,060, Russell inU.S. Pat. No. 3,292,566, Fenton in U.S. Pat. No. 3,988,997 and Eisner inU.S. Pat. No. 4,970,980. Kirlin in U.S. Pat. No. 2,179,125 describes aninflatable fender using a bladder inside a casing. All these fenderscould be compressed for compact storage but re-inflation requires anexternal source of air or a pump with dedicated man power for operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The self inflating fender of the present invention addresses theproblem mentioned in prior art by providing both a savings on space andmanpower. When desired, the fender can be easily compressed to a muchsmaller size for storage by opening its air valve, applying an externalforce to it such as folding it and sifting on it and then closing itsair valve thereby causing it to remain in its compressed size andallowing it to be stored away in an unobtrusive location. To reconditionit, the air valve is opened which allows the fender to expand back toits original size and then with the air valve closed, the fender can bedeployed. This is easily done under adverse conditions by aninexperienced crew.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006]FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of the self inflating fender withan air tight cover disposed vertically in an uncompressed state.

[0007]FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1.

[0008]FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

[0009]FIG. 4 is the same view as FIG. 2 but showing the self inflatingfender with an air tight cover in a compressed state and folded.

[0010]FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of the self inflating fender witha bladder and fending cover disposed vertically in an uncompressedstate.

[0011]FIG. 6 is a side view of FIG. 5.

[0012]FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 5.

[0013]FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 5.

[0014]FIG. 9 is the same view as FIG. 6 but showing the self inflatingfender with a bladder and fending cover in a compressed state andfolded.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] A self inflating fender with an air tight cover, generallydesignated 10, of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.It consists of an air tight cover 11, a manual air valve 12 thatcontrols air flow in and out of the air tight cover 11, flaps 13integral with the cover 11 and grommetted openings 14 in the flaps 13which provide a means of attaching the fender 10 to a boat, dock orother appropriate structure. FIG. 3 shows why the fender 10 is selfinflating. The air tight cover 11 surrounds and closely conforms to theuncompressed shape of an open cell foam core 15 which can easily becompressed to a significantly smaller size but when released, willexpand back to its original shape. FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show thefoam core 15 uncompressed with the fender 10 in a state to act as afending device provided that the air valve 12 is closed so it can holdits shape. FIG. 4 shows the fender 10 in a compressed state. This isaccomplished by opening the air valve 12 and compressing the fender 10with an external force until the foam core 15 has been compressed to asignificantly smaller size and then closing the air valve 12. Underthese conditions, atmospheric air pressure will keep the fender 10compressed and it can be folded as shown in FIG. 4 for easy storage.Opening the air valve 12 will release the restriction of atmospheric airpressure and the fender 10 will expand back to its uncompressed sizebecause of the expansion of the open cell foam core 15.

[0016] A self inflating fender with a bladder and fending cover,generally designated 20, of the present invention is shown in FIG. 5 andFIG. 6. It consists of a fending cover 21 composed of flexible lay flattubing, an opening 22 in the fending cover 21, an air valve 23protruding through the opening 22 and stitches 24 closing the ends ofthe fending cover 21. Incorporated in the stitching 24 is fabric webbing25 with loops 26 for attaching the fender 20 to a boat, dock orappropriate structure. FIG. 7 shows more detail of the fabric webbing 25and the loops 26 for attachment. FIG. 8 shows why the fender 20 is selfinflating. The fending cover 21 surrounds and closely conforms to theuncompressed shape of the open cell foam core 27 which can easily becompressed to a significantly smaller size but when released, willexpand back to its original shape. Between the fending cover 21 and thefoam core 27 is an air tight bladder 28 that surrounds the foam core 27and is connected to the air valve 23 which controls air flow in and outof the bladder 28. FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 8 show the foam core 27uncompressed with the fender 20 in a state to act as a fending deviceprovided that the air valve 23 is closed so it can hold its shape. FIG.9 shows the fender 20 in a compressed state. This is accomplished byopening the air valve 23 and compressing the fender 20 with an externalforce until the foam core 27 has been compressed to a significantlysmaller size and then closing the air valve 23. Under these conditions,atmospheric air pressure will keep the fender 20 compressed and it canbe folded as shown in FIG. 9 for easy storage. Opening the air valve 23will release the restriction of atmospheric air pressure and the fender20 will expand back to its uncompressed size because of the expansion ofthe open cell foam core 27.

[0017] Although only one preferred embodiment of this invention has beendisclosed, it will be understood that various changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope of thisinvention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A self inflating fender comprising: a core of compressiblematerial which can be easily compressed to a significantly smaller sizebut will assume its original shape when released; a flexible, air tightcover completely surrounding and closely matching the uncompressedexternal shape of said core of compressible material; a means of aircontrol that controls air flow in and out of said air tight cover; and ameans of attachment for attaching said fender to a boat, dock or otherappropriate structure.
 2. A self inflating fender as recited in claim 1,in which said core of compressible material is in the shape of anelongated right circular cylinder having two opposing ends and consistsof open cell foam.
 3. A self inflating fender as recited in claim 2, inwhich said air tight cover is composed of a flexible vinyl tube with twoopposing ends which extend beyond said opposing ends of said core ofcompressible material and are heat sealed to make said cover air tightand also to form a pair of flaps integral to said cover.
 4. A selfinflating fender as recited in claim 3, in which said flaps havegrommetted openings and provide said means of attachment.
 5. A selfinflating fender as recited in claim 4, in which said means of aircontrol is a manual air valve that when open will allow entrapped air toescape from inside said air tight cover when said fender is compressedto a smaller size or allow air to flow into said air tight cover whensaid fender is allowed to expand from said compressed smaller size to anuncompressed larger size because of the expansion of said core ofcompressible material and when closed will hold said fender in saidcompressed smaller size thus allowing easier storage or will hold saidair tight cover in said uncompressed larger size thus allowing said airtight cover to act as a fending device.
 6. A self inflating fendercomprising: a core of compressible material which can be easilycompressed to a significantly smaller size but will assume its originalshape when released; an air tight bladder completely surrounding saidcore of resilient material; a means of air control that controls airflow in and out of said bladder; a flexible fending cover closelymatching the uncompressed external shape of said core of compressiblematerial and completely surrounding said bladder with an access hole forsaid means of air control; and a means of attachment for attaching saidfender to a boat, dock or other appropriate structure.
 7. A selfinflating fender as recited in claim 6, in which said core ofcompressible material is in the shape of an elongated right circularcylinder having two opposing ends and consists of open cell foam.
 8. Aself inflating fender as recited in claim 7, in which said bladder isconstructed of light weight vinyl film with said means of air controlbeing a manual air valve that when open will allow entrapped air toescape from inside said bladder when said bladder is compressed to asmaller size or allow air to flow into said bladder when said bladder isallowed to expand from said compressed smaller size to an uncompressedlarger size because of the expansion of said core of compressiblematerial and when closed will hold said bladder in said compressedsmaller size thus allowing easier storage of said self inflating fenderor will hold said bladder in said uncompressed larger size thus allowingsaid bladder to hold said fending cover in an enlarged state so as toact as a fending device.
 9. A self inflating fender as recited in claim8, in which said fending cover is a lay flat, flexible, abrasiveresistant, reinforced vinyl tube with two opposing ends which extendbeyond said opposing ends of said core of compressible material and arestitched closed so that said cover completely surrounds said bladder.10. A self inflating fender as recited in claim 9, in which loops formedfrom fabric webbing are incorporated into the stitching closed of saidtwo opposing ends of said fending cover thereby providing said means ofattachment.